Gillian Kenny

What the Wife of Bath teaches us about misogyny

The lovable rounded character of The Canterbury Tales has been ridiculed over the centuries for her sexual appetites, completely subverting Chaucer’s focus

The Wife of Bath, as she appears in the Ellesmere Manuscript of The Canterbury Tales. [Bridgeman Images]
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  • The Wife of Bath: A Biography

    Marion Turner

    Princeton, pp. 296, £20

  • The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society

    Eleanor Janega

    W.W. Norton, pp. 320, £23

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